Warming up when it truly matters

Thursday

Nov 1, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 1, 2012 at 12:30 AM

Conor O'Neill / Times-News

ELON — It might have taken a somewhat lackluster first half for the Western Alamance boys’ soccer team to get going on a cold Halloween night, but once the Warriors calmed down, they weren’t slowing down.

Western Alamance scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half and eased past visiting Western Harnett 4-0 in the first round of the Class 3-A state playoffs Wednesday night.

“We were a little off in the first half, weren’t really playing our game,” Warriors forward Cody Schultz said. “Not really used to playing in the cold weather, so it was getting used to that.”

The Warriors advanced to a second-round matchup against Southern Lee, which defeated Asheboro 4-0. Western Alamance travels to Southern Lee, the top seed from the Cape Fear Valley Conference, on Saturday.

It wasn’t exactly that Western Alamance played poorly in the first half — the defense didn’t allow a shot on goal, while a goal by Adam Richard gave the Warriors a 1-0 halftime lead.

But coach John Pardini delivered a glowing reminder at halftime of the team’s identity.

“I just told them to play composed. We’re 16-1-3 on the year, we’re not a middle-of-the-road team,” Pardini said. “Just stick to what works, keep things simple and it’s always about being simple, safe and organized.”

The change was obvious almost immediately in the second half, when Schultz took a pass from Matthew Horner near the top of the box and fired a left-footed shot into the right corner of the net.

That goal came two minutes into the second half, and was a bit of redemption for Schultz, who set up Richard’s first-half goal by hitting the post. Richard, who called Schultz’s shot “great,” cleaned up the rebound for the goal.

“I was kind of upset that I hit the post, because that seems to be my luck all the time, but I was glad that Adam finished it,” Schultz said. “Throughout the whole season, part of me says to not let that stuff bother me. But it’s kind of hard because of the post, it could have been a goal if it was over 3 inches.”

There was no post interference or bad luck when Schultz fired in the Warriors’ second goal.

Four minutes later, Jamie Nahkle sent a shot to the back of the net off a centering pass from Jacob Thompson. When Jackson Lilly took a pass from Schultz and scored in the 54th minute, that was all the cushion needed.

In closing out the Eagles (7-15), it helped that the Warriors allowed just four shots and goalkeeper Tyler Billings saved all three that were on goal.

And as for the missed opportunities in the first half, Pardini figures those were the result of early playoff nerves.

“I think it’s the first playoff game for a lot of kids. We didn’t have a lot of players who started for us last year,” Pardini said. “That first playoff game is jittery for a lot of kids.”

Richard said it was a matter of channeling nerves into energy, and using that to an advantage.

“It was more that we calmed down, which then allowed us to play a better quality of soccer,” Richard said. “(That) brought intensity rather than straight adrenaline.”

The Warriors outshot Western Harnett 28-4, and the score could have been more lopsided if it wasn’t for Eagles goalkeeper Roel Rodriguez’s 17 saves, including several diving stops in the last 10 minutes.